The Birth of a Dragon
by Punk19
Summary: The tramatic birth and early life of the hero named Spyro.
1. The Birth Of A Dragon

**The Birth Of A Dragon**

Thunder rumbled and rolled throught the montain sides and lightning flashed and cracked at the rocks. A steady stream of smoke slowly billowed from a wide cave. A slight moan is heard. The another and another as we follow the rocky remains of many ruins. Soon we see a pink female dragon jealously guarding her three eggs. One was alot smaller than the other. Another was speckled and another was huge. One moved and cracked. Slowly a red nose poked its way into the world. He sniffed the wind and drove his small finger tips against the white egg shell.

The pink mother dragon looked at the nose. The perfect small nostrils moved in and out. Its limbs scratching the egg, its moan beautiful to behold. Turning her head she looked at the other eggs. Why weren't they hatching? Why wasn't the egg being severed by claws and teeth? And why didn't they move?

Slowly she nudged them with her snout. One flipped over and fell from the nest. She looked from the edge and saw that the egg was empty. She abandoned that egg and did the same with the other. The egg this time didn't hit dirt or rock. It hit water. Slowly it was swept from wave to wave and taken from its mother. It swam many miles before it finally was picked up by a small pink and blue female dragon.

She looked at the egg for a while before she noticed that it was ready to hatch. Cuddling it she waited until that special moment came. Soon the egg shaked and a nose presented itself. It was a pretty light purple. The nostrils moved and the hatchling took in its first breath. Soon it was out of its cell. Its wonderous purple body started drying under that yellow blazing sun. The frills on his head straightened and he stretched out his small limbs. Slowly he took his first step. Then his second and third.

The mother dragon watched him carefully. His beauty bewildered her. That beautiful movement of his light purple body made her eyes water. Slowly she stood and walked up to her new son. His eyes questioned her and she grunted the answer. Slowly she headed towards the waters edge and scooped up his first dinner. He looked at it and then with a huge gulp, down it went down his gulit. Smiling the mother dragon looked into that beautiful sky and said:

_"Thank you for such a son."_

**There will be so much more for this is only the begining of the early childhood of the hero Spyro.**


	2. His First Day

**His First Day**

_Thank you Lithe for your review. No this isn't my first story. It's actually my twelveth. I hope you enjoy this next chapter._

That blazing sun rose over the cool horizon and heated that cold landskape that housed dragons, unicorns and other mythical beasts. A mother unicorn and foal slowly grazed the warming grass as the herd behind her slept. The sloth bears slept gracefully held up by their claws and tails. A male leoppard hissed at the rabbit that was mocking him in his hole.

Slowly straightening her aching joints the mother dragon lifted her head and looked at her stomach. She greated the day with a loud yawn and a hiss of smoke flew from her lips. She looked at the small dragon she called son and smiled. He was curled up on his stomach with one of his front legs over his eyes. The mother dragon smiled and slightly nuzzled him awake. He slowly raised his head and yawned. His omnious blue eyes glowered in the new morning light. His skin stretched as his breath came from his chest. Raising his leg he tested the ground and got up.

Slowly standing herself, the mother dragon walked over to the pool and carefully lowered her slinder muzzle into the water. One gulp was enough for her. Looking off to her west she spotted those gloomy clouds of doom. Hissing and screaming she ran over to her son and picking him up tenderly in her mouth flew off into the sky. Her son watched from her mouth as that ground flashed by him so fast. Looking up he thought about that wonderous eye loking at him. Smiling he slighly moved to his left and curling went to sleep.

Waking up sooner than he thought he would he slowly felt that the air around him was silent.His mother did not move up and down. Hot breath didn't hit his face. Looking up he saw that he was now on a green nestle of plateau with sweet smelling flowers. He looked for his mother, yet he didn't find her. Getting up he slowly searched the lands. His small eyes told him the way. Soon a red dragon with a yellow and black crest flew over him. Looking up the small baby dragon squealed. The dragon went up, then with a mighty swoop, fell towards the smaller dragon with mouth open and talons out.

Running from the red dragon; the smaller dragon skipped over rock, river and ridge. His heart fell far from what it needed to be. Slowly he stopped. The red dragon fell from the sky and hit him. Landing on his side the baby dragon looked up and saw that the red dragon was landing. The dragon walked over and looking at the baby menacingly, openned his mouth...

The mother dragon sweeped into the dragon with furiousness only known to a full grown and mature male. Biting, cutting, swooping, flapping and slowly slshing her opponent to pieces the mother dragon drew blood with every blow. The male dragon swung his talons and caught her only once in the chest. Slowly reeling in pain the male dragon flew away. The mother dragon flew down to earth and fell at the feet of the baby dragon.

The baby dragon looked at her for the longest time before he walked over. His heart told him the bitter and saddening truth.

_"Mother?"_ He said.

_"Be a ggood bboy."_ His mother said._"Spyro."_

With that the mother breathed in her last breath and fell into that deep sleep that she would never return from.

_**Yes, I know I killed the mother. But this story will get alot better than this. I promise.**_


	3. Gloomy Trip

**Gloomy Trip**

_Here's the update. I hope you like it. _

Black omnious clouds blanketed the horizon. Sheets of rain poured from their eyes, lightning flew and devasticated everything in sight. Thunder rumbled and rolled the landscape into a silent death trap. Slowly a river of hard rocks flew from above, cascading into the lake and making splashing sounds. Fish and frogs jumped and ran to their shelters. A small leopard cub ran under a log and shook his fur coat dry.

Slowly the rain came down harder onto the back of the histerical baby purple dragon. His movements were slow and lazy, his head drooped and his small muzzle lapped up the tears from his eyes. Coming to a small cave he layed himself down and slept. Horrible dreams plagued him all during that one night without his mother to protect him. Soon he woke up to that sweet sensational feeling of warmth. Raising his head he saw a yellowed cat purring at him. Screaming he ran out of the cave and into that still rainy day. The cat followed him and soon caught up.

Slowly grabbing him in her mouth she carried him back to the cave. The cat purred again and dropped him into a pile of about four kittens. One was a black with a small diamond in the center of his head. He also had three stockings. A grey female kitten was the biggest of the four. She was a beautiful greyish color with no white whatsoever on her body. A smaller white male sat down by a corner and licked his paws. His nose was grey. The smallist and kindest of them all was a spotted yellow and black leopard male with four white stockings.

The small dragon was very scared. He hunched his back whenever one of them walked over to him. His frills stood on end and he hissed. The kittens hissed back. The grey one ran over and swiped her mighty small claw and caught him on his chin. The dragon screamed and the mother cat came running.

_"What's going on here?"_ She hissed.

_"We're just playing."_ The black kitten said.

_"He's scared mom."_ The leopard said.

The mother cat walked over and plopped herself over the dragon. He shied away and hit the wall. The mother cat smiled and slowly licked his bleeding chin.

_"What's your name?"_ She asked.

_"Spyro." _Spyro hissed.

_"What a pretty name."_ She exclaimed._"So, where's your mother?"_

Spyro fell down in a fit of tears. His heart ached for her once more. He remembered every detail of his first few days with her. The mother cat looked on and smiled. She knew, she couldn't keep him, yet she felt that he needed protection. Her motherly instincts kicked in and she slowly and carefully manuevered herself so that her children could suckle. The dragon looked at her strangely. His blue eyes questioning her movements. She smiled and beckoned for him to come and join the family. He stayed were he was though. His small nistrils moving in and out. The rain continued to rain and it sang itself in every ear in that cave. Even the dragon was feeling sorrow for the rain and the ones out there with no shelter.

That leopard kitten sure was persistant because almost every single minute, he'd walk over and try to play tag with Spyro. Spyro though would always butt him away with a swipe of his tiny tail. The grey kitten though was another story. She kept looking at him the weirdest of ways. Her fuzzy tail always caught his face and her small white claws would always be trying to find their way into his soft fleshy hide. The other two males made sure to remain as far as they could possibly away from Spyro.

Spyro did eventually learn their names. The only female, the grey kitten, was named Ginger. Her white brother with the grey nose was Spencer and the black kitten with the white stockings and a diamond in the middle of his head was named Cecil. The Leopard kitten was named Hunter. The mother name was Xara Star.

_**I felt that Spyro needed to have a family, so incomes the baby Hunter. Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. **_


	4. One Year Later

**One Year Later**

_Thank you for your reviews Dinolover999, Gusty Bv and Lithe. Your reviews have muchly given me some ideas for this chapter. In this chapter we take a look at Spyro's schooling and the first four years of his life. Please be kind, I'm going through a writers block.

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The wind ran through the landscape. The scent of flowers and grass stung in the nostrils of three grown up male dragons. Two pink female dragons were frolicking in the flowers. Three male dragons were playing in the water. One of them was a huge red dragon with a pointed nose. The other two were blue. Another dragon sat away from the others. His purple skin and yellow crests heated by the sun and his claws dug in the dirt. He was watching a dragon fly fly past when the red male dragon came up to him.

"Yo man, wanna play?" He hissed.

"Sure." Spyro said.

Spyro ran into the group and started splashing water all over the place. All of the dragons were having a good time when a big green dragon fluttered in sight. All of the dragons, except Spyro, fled to a rocky formation. Spyro watched as the dragon landed in front of him. The crest of this dragon was a milky yellowy color and his claws were huge. His green wings were so huge. Spyro looked at his wings.

"Which one of you is Syro?" The dragon hissed.

"I am." Spyro said after a moments pause.

"Your needed to come with me." The dragon said.

Spyro looked at the dragon as he lifted from the ground. Spyro tried to do the same but his little wings wouldn't permit him from doing so. Spyro looked up to see the dragon fly away. With a burst of speed Spyro ran after him. He tried crying to the dragon but the wind caused the words to flow back to him. Over cliffs, plains and rivers he ran. The dragon above never looked down to see if he was following. Spyro's legs were near collapse when they finally did stop.

"This is the dragon school." The dragon stated. "I am your teacher."

"What am I to..." Spyro stated.

"You are not to speak unless you are told to." The dragon said. "My name is Victero."

"Hello." Spyro said.

"You will learn until that sun is below the mountains." Victero said.

Spyro looked up and frowned. They sun was just about above the mountains.

"School is in session."

Spyro spent all that day learning how to fly, land and spit out fire. He had alot of trouble with his instructor. Victero was so strict. He never allowed a break and he didn't allow time for Spyro to reply to a question. Spyro was swiped at three times that day. His wings were tired and his small paws were beginning to get all softened. When the day ended he was glad to go to sleep in a cave. But no, Victero said he had to sleep near him.

Spyro was wakened up when the sun was up at the mountain side. His eyes and his wings still asking for rest and his paws still aching.

"You will run off your sleep." Victero ordered.

So Spyro ran three miles around that small mountain side. By the time he was done he couldn't stand, much less keep his eyes open. Victero though saw this and softened a bit. He let Spyro rest for awhile before getting him up. Another day was spent with learning how to fly, land and spit fire. Spyro was once again glad for sleep. Victero was actually also glad to sleep. So it was easy for Spyro to slip through the night.

Spyro ran until he reached the small cave were Xara Star and her three kittens had been three weeks ago. Spyro didn't know why but Xara had disappeared. Disappeared into thin air. Her kittens had also disappeared. He missed Xara dearly. She had acted like a mother to him.

A gust of wind brought him from his daydream. It felt hurried and mad. Looking up Spyro saw that it was Victero. Victero looked angry.

"I should welp you one so hard." Victero started.

"Victero I..." Spyro started but stopped.

"There is to much danger out here." Victero screamed.

" I'm sorry." Spyro said.

"You could have been killed." Victero said.

Spyro sensed a mark of pain in Victero's last statement. Cocking his head, he walked over and nuzzled Victero's arm. Victero looked down and slowly patted Spyro on his head. Spyro looked up and smiled. The hurt expression on Victero's face disappeared and was replaced with a satisfied and happy expression. Spyro felt Victero's claws go around his body. Slowly he was lifted to Victero's back.

He was carried back to that whole in the mountain. Victero placed him on his makeshift bed and patted his head again. Victero actually softened up and spent the whole afternoon letting Spyro sleep and rest up. It took Spyro three years to learn how to fly and spit out fire. But it was worth all the wait. Because when he turned five, he could fly alot faster than the rest of the dragons in the plains.

The bad thing about that was that Victero had a new pupil. He couldn't spend any time with Victero anymore. He couldn't even talk to Victero. He knew that Victero was teaching him the hardest lesson that he would ever have to learn. The lesson of separating the ones you love. Spyro was all eaten up at the idea of having to live without Victero, Xara Star and that one little kitten named Hunter. But he would have to learn. And learn he did.


	5. Race for Sparx

_Cleveland Wiltz, I am not goig to cancel this fanfiction. Man Of The Forest, I am glad to say that I made this chapter in response to your review. Thank you all for your reviews, I am sory for the delay, I hope you like this chapter. Will the next chapter will have an adventure with Sparx and Spyro? I am not sure, depends on you guys.

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_

**Race for Sparx**

Steam rose from their nostrils as they all waited for the elder dragon to whistle. This was the time they had all been waiting for, the time when all young dragons raced across the river to the flower beds a mile away to pick their dragonfly companions. There was so much conversation about which of the dragons would get the best. The small green one with the white crest, the large red female with the purple crest, the medium sized dragon with the yellow crest. They were all expected to show their very best. None of them wanted to get stuck with the weakest butterfly in the flower beds.

"Flame, he is my best bet." Said a small blue dragon.

"I say it'll be Sparky." A Red dragon said.

"The purple dragon, he's the best." A large white dragon said.

Spyro knew that he wasn't the best male dragon in the field of a hundred. He was the smallest and the least noticed. His yellowed crests had grown little more than last year and he had only grown an inch or two during the summer growing months. Slowly looking to his right, Spyro noticed that their were Unicorn foals, yearlings, playing games and receiving their butterfly friends. The pegesus foals, also yearlings, were competing for their moth friends. He could also see Cheetah cubs, Kangaroos and other creatures competing for other flying creatures. This was the day that all of their lives would change forever.

Elder Thomas, an orange dragon with blue crests, looked at the last four years crop of young dragons and frowned. This was by possibly the worst crop ever to be born. All of them had deformities. About half were small, while the others were large and clumbsy. Elder Magnus felt the same, his exquist orange scales and yellow eyes nodding away to the good ones and shaking to the others. The only one he noticed, was Flame, the big, yet not large, red dragon. Elder Titan, the oldest and foggest of the elders that haad white scales and grey crests over his eyes, agreed to this. Although he noticed the pink dragon with the yellow crest more, he agreed that this lot was useless. Elder Astro and Elder Red had both picked the smallest dragon of the lot, the small green dragon.

Victero and Magnus watched as the whistle was blown. Victero was very worried, worried not because of the lot of dragons, but because of the amount of sarcasism sent up by everyone. He had personally trained half of these dragons. And he knew that this was not a bummed out crop, they were a fine bunch of youngsters.

Spyro sped up to his best speed ever reached. Ember, a small pink dragon with no crests whatsoever, watched him as he race by her. She had expected to be in the fourth place, due to her risky and fast turns. Sparky, the small green dragon with the white crests, was quickly swallowed up by Spyro's quickening pace. He couldn't believe his eyes, the purple dragon was fast indeed. Spyro was almost there, just one dragon left.

Flame must have heard him, because he quickened his pace. But it was to no use. Spyro flew past him. Jumping into the water and swimming as fast as he could to the other bank, he felt his heart ache. He couldn't keep this up for long. The flower bed was just ahead, a mile away. A quick flash of his tail and soon he was there. The first thing he heard was gasps of surprise, hate and sarcasism. He saw Flame run up, he looked tired and sad. Sparky and Ember were next, then all the others. None of them were happy. Spyro walked over to the first flower and looked in. A small yellow dragonfly looked up and smiled. It flew up and did circles around Spyro for awhile. Everone started booing as the dragonfly sat itself down onto Spyro's back. Elder Thomas walked up to Spyro, spoke a few words then left.

"Spyro has made his pick, the dragonfly Sparx." Elder Thomas said.

"Hi, my name is Spyro." Spyro said.

"Mine is Sparx." Sparx said.

"You look thirsty." Spyro said.

"I am, really am." Sparx said.

Spyro walked over to the river and slowly, he lowered his body down. Sparx drank his full and then he fluttered off to Spyro's head. Soon, he was fast asleep, and so was Spyro. Flame had picked a fiery red dragonfly named Gamex. Ember had picked a white dragonfly named Usho. Sparky had picked a green dragonfly named Terwai. Now, they had all fallen asleep, side by side by side. Soon, all the booing turning to awes and then everyone left. They days event was over, and they were all somewhat satisfied with the result. Now it was time to go to whatever they were doing before they had been drawn to the race.


	6. The Dark Realm

**The Dark Realm**

Spyro, now a boisterous young seven year old, stood on a large expanse of rock overlooking the valley. His skin had darkened, his crests had grown and had gotten much more brighter and he had started growing claws. His tail now had a arrow spike, yellow in color and very sharp. Behind him was Sparx, his dragonfly friend that he had met when he was only four. Below in the valley, they saw Unicorns and Pegasus's were running around fearfully, Kangaroos' were jumping around frantically and the other dragons were looking up to the sky confused.

"What's going on?" Sparx asked.  
"I don't know." Spyro replied.  
"I can tell you what's going on." Ember called.

Ember, a very pretty pink dragon with yellowish white crests and white claws climbed up the rock and stood beside Spyro. Sparx hissed, he knew that Spyro had a thing for this dragon. She had crystal blue eyes and a yellow belly. There was fear in her eyes, the same as the fear in everyone else's eyes. She shivered and dropped to the ground and started crying.

"Oh Spyro, it's horrible." Ember said. "The dark lords have taken over the sacred realms."  
"The dark lords?" Sparx joked.  
"Who are they and where are they?" Spyro asked.  
"The dark lords are a collection of beasts..." Ember started.  
"One of them is _your_ father." Flame scuffed.

Flame, a fiery red dragon with orange crests and a yellow belly ran up the rock and positioned himself between Ember and Spyro. He to had a crush on Ember, and as he had a temper Spyro tempted to stay away from him. Flame was the top of the years crop, the best of them all, and the most dangerous. He had two tentacles falling from his chin, evident that he had a Chinese dragon parent.

"Which means _you're_ an enemy." Flame said.  
"Spyro is _no_ foe, he's _a_ friend." Sparx defended.  
"_Quiet_ fly, Spyro will fall soon." Flame said. "With _you_ at his side."  
"Where are these dark lords?" Spyro asked again.  
"Not all of them are dragon, one is a black Unicorn and another is a black Pegasus." Ember said.  
"You'll find them...they are coming here." Flame said.  
"Which is why we are all going to the cave below." said a green dragon.

Everyone ran underneath the rock, even Flame ran under there. Ember tried to make Spyro come with them but he denied, he stayed above. Sparx stayed above with his friend, although he wanted to go find shelter himself. Suddenly the sky darkened and a black whole erupted. Spyro tried to run, but it was no use, he and his friend along with anyone who wasn't under the pretection of some type of shelter were sucked up. A Kangaroo, a Leopard, a Unicorn and a Pegasus were screaming for mercy, all were frightened to death. When they all touched down on the ground, they stopped and gasped.

What they had been pulled into was a realm of death, leafless trees and bushes stood out almost everywhere with skeletons and hideous mud puddles. There were no flowing streams, blossuming flowers, running youngsters and flying bugs in this realm. It seemed that they were the only thing living. Before they could move or say anything, a Mole poked itself from the ground.

"Hey you younglings," said the Mole." you shouldn't be here."  
"Were are we?" Sparx asked.  
"You are in the Realm of Death and Destruction." the Mole said. "This realm is dominated by the dark lords."  
"We were brought here by some black hole." said the Leopard.  
"The lords have brought you to your deaths then." the Mole said. "I wish you all luck."

The Mole dove under the ground and dug away from them, they could tell that whatever did live in this realm was scared. There were a few Vultures sitting on the leafless trees, watching them hungrily. A snake slithered down the bark of a dead tree and hissed angrily. The Unicorn squealed and kicked her black cloven hooves out when she felt a rat run by.

"Everyone stay calm, we need to stick together." Spyro said.  
"Who are you?" the Unicorn squealed.  
"I am Spyro." Spyro introduced himself. "Who are you guys?"  
"I am Hunter, the Leopard." Hunter said.  
"I _know_ you, _you_ and _I_ were _brothers_ once." Spyro exclaimed.  
"I don't recall." Hunter said.  
"Oh well." Spyro sighed. "We have been way from each other a long while."  
"I am Sabrina, the Unicorn." Sabrina said.  
"Baxter, the Pegasus." Baxter said.  
"Shiela, the Kangaroo." Shiela said. "What's your name little guy?"  
"Sparx." Sparx said.

Sabrino was a tall, about fifteen hands high, Unicorn filly with beautiful black eyes. She was a light chestnut, with a light mane and tail, the tail reached all the way to the ground. She had a blaze going down her face, and she had three stockings on her feet. Sabrina was seven years old, way to young for breeding. In Unicorn rules, a Unicorn couldn't have children until they were in their late teens to early twenties.

Baxter was a light palomino colt, his coat was so light it looked white and his tail and mane were completely white. His black hooves thundered the ground in both impatience and fear. His black eyes stared out at Spyro with distrust and anger. Baxter's tail reached all the way to his hocks, knees on the back of a horse, and his mane flew way down to his shoulders. He shuddered, both out of fear and because everyone was crowding around himself. Baxter was a tall, seventeen hands, colt with a very prominent head. The Pegasus rules stated that a Pegasus couldn't have children until they were in their twenties, it looked like Baxter was already in his early twenties, because of his height.

Hunter looked like he was about to fall down on the ground and start crying. His coat was spotted yellow, orange and red along with black splashed in to make it worth looking at him. He had a white nose, which made him look somewhat stupid. His tail had a white spot, the tip of it was white while the rest was yellow and black. He had blue eyes, crystal blue eyes that were blinked almost every three seconds.

Shiela was an orange Kangaroo with a black nose and blue eyes. She thumped her tail on the ground in frustration and fear, she wanted to go home. She was beginning to form a pouch were she'd start raising children, she was almost old enough to start conceiving. By the rule of the Kangaroo, a Kangaroo had to be ten years old before they could start having children.

"I think we should start walking." Baxter said.  
"Yes, Baxter is right, we need to find a safe place." Sabrina said.  
"The sooner the better." Shiela said.

Spyro followed behind Shiela and Hunter, he had a feeling that they were both being watched and followed by someone who was evil. Turning himself around, he looked up in the trees and saw a dark shadow disappear. It looked strangely crocodilian, with some features of a dragon and a sheep thrown in. As to not frighten the others, he didn't speak about it.


	7. Professor

**Professor**

Sabrina stamped her feet, she was growing both tired and hungry. She could hear her stomach growling, she was so hungry. Baxter stopped and she plowed right into him, he reared up and slashed her chest. Nickering wildly, she stretched her small hooves up and kicked them frantically. Baxter's eyes had changed from black to red. Looking around, she saw that she was alone, no one was there to help her. A shadow cast over her body and...

"Hey, will you stop kicking me." Hunter exclaimed.  
"Sorry, bad dream." Sabrina sighed.  
"I think you bruised my brain." Hunter whined.  
"Oh shut up you big baby." Sabrina whinnied.  
"Shut up both of you." Baxter nickered.

Baxter was lying down on his side far away from Sabrina and Hunter, his mane was flayed out and his tailed swiped at flies that threatened to bite. His white wings flapped slowly, gently, without making a noise. Shiela was sleeping a little to the left of Hunter, her pink belly rose and fell as she gently sang out in a sweet baby voice. Sabrina giggled, everyone was content, everyone but her. Her mother had always said that she was the one that could detest danger before it happened, and she was feeling it now. There was movement to her right, Sparx flew by and landed on Spyro's purple rump. Spyro had decided to stay up all night to stand guard.

With a sigh, Sabrina sat herself up, her back legs gently tucked underneath her belly. She whipped her mane around a few times then stood up on all four legs. Nothing moved, not even the uneaten brown grass in the patch infront of the drained pond. Taking a timid step from the others, she started trotting towards a yellow light. She hadn't gone far from the others when a net was dropped on her head. Screaming for mercy, she reared, kicked, bit and snarled at her captives. Only when she was all tired out did she notice that she had walked into a spider web.

"Where's Sabrina?" Hunter asked.  
"Probably went off to the lady's room." Shiela said.

It was early morning, black omnious clouds blackened the land and the smell of smoke filled each of them with fear. Baxter had his ears pinned, his eyes were rolling. His wings flapped a little and he was off, he wasn't gone long. When he returned he brought a branch of apples, black apples with green lines crisscrossing every which way. Spyro passed on the apples, but Shiela and Hunter didn't. They munched down and before long the whole branch was empty. Baxter had resulted to eating the dead brown grass and Spyro ate a few sticks, it wasn't much but it helped to stop the pang of hunger. By midday Sabrina still hadn't turned up.

"Where can she be?" Shiela exclaimed fearfully.  
"Why don't we go looking for her?" Hunter asked.  
"Oh yes, lets break up and become vulnerable." Baxter snarled. "Try being a little more dumber next time."  
"Hey fly boy, I happen to be good with archery." Hunter said.  
"So what, whould you be a good archer with my hoof half way up your..." Baxter whinnied.  
"Guys, where's Spyro?" Shiela asked.

Spyro wasn't the only one missing, so was Sparx. They were running through the forest, following the running steps of Sabrina. Both could hear the whinnies and yelps for him to come back, but they didn't care. Sparx found a broken twig, and Spyro found a piece of hair from Sabrina's tail hanging on a tree. Baxter raced up to them, Hunter and Shiela were riding him tightly, he looked angry. Shiela and Hunter climbed quickly from his back, they coward away from him.

"I ought to break your neck." Baxter whinnied.  
"Sabrina has been through here." Spyro said. "This is her tail hair."  
"So..." Hunter stuttered. "We going to follow her tracks now?"  
"No." Baxter said. "We're staying here until she comes back."  
"Yes, I will follow her tracks." Spyro said.  
"Listen dragon, I am the leader here and what I say goes." Baxter whinnied.  
"Who said you were the leader?" Shiela said. "I'm inclined to follow Spyro."  
"Me too." Hunter said.  
"So you're leaving me behind?" Baxter whinnied.  
"You can come with us, if you like." Spyro said.  
"I will stay put, you should to." Baxter nickered.  
"Lead the way Spyro." Shiela said.

Baxter watched as the kangaroo bounced away on her strong long legs, he couldn't believe that he was being left behind. Hunter was running beside Spyro, both were looking at the ground with frowns of concentration. When he lost sight of them he started feeling both pitty and hatred for himself. Screaming, he drove his hooves into the dirt and galloped away into the swamp. Before he got far he felt a rope entwine around his ankles, whinnying he shot straight up and turned. It wasn't a rope, it was a vine. Nickering to himself, her trotted away. He closed the gap on Spyro and the others a few seconds later.

"I thought you had had a heart attack." Shiela said. "All that screaming and such."  
"I think I owe an apology to you all." Baxter said. "I shouldn't be acting like a leader."  
"You're apology is accepted." Spyro said. "Sabrina went this way."

The deep mud had circled Sabrina in a deathgrip for over three hours, she had fallen into a mud pit and had gotten stuck. After an hour of fruitless screaming and thrashing about she had given up. Her chestnut coat now looked brown, her unicorn horn was burried deep in the mud and she was breathing shallowly. She didn't see Spyro, nor did she feel the vine that was wrapped around her thousand pound body. Baxter lifted her lifeless body up, and gently lowered it to the ground.

"Sabrina, what's wrong with her?" Shiela asked frightfully.  
"Here, lets clean her mouth." Hunter said.  
"Why?" Shiela asked.  
"She might have something obstructing her airways." Hunter said.

Hunter grabbed a leaf, brown and crumbly but still useable, and gently opened Sabrina's mouth. He cleaned her of all the mud that she had swallowed over the hours and then he started CPR. She was aroused a few moments later, very confused and scared. She thrashed her legs, bared her teeth and twitched her tail trying to get up. Hunter placed his hands on her shoulders and gently held her down on the ground. She stopped struggling when the mud had been removed from around her eyes.

"What, where am I?" Sabrina asked.  
"I told you guys so." the mole said.

The mole, now dressed in a white over coat and wearing glasses, was sitting on a large black tree branch. Beside him was a medical bag, it was bulging at the sides. Shaking his head he climbed down from the tree and checked Sabrina. Sabrina whinnied when she felt his hands rubbing her left leg, it hurt her badly. The mole nodded his head and collected a few of his tools.

"She's got a sprained tendon." the mole said.  
"Why are you helping us?" Spyro asked.  
"For one, I like you kids." the mole said.  
"What's your name Mr. Mole?" Hunter asked.  
"My name is Professor." Professor said.  
"Professor?" Shiela said. "Professor what?"  
"Just Professor." Professor said. "Or maybe you'd prefer calling me The Professor."  
"I like George better." Shiela said. "George Professor."

Sabrina whinnied when she felt Professor touching her leg, it hurt so bad. He wrapped her leg quickly, and then he supplied her with something that he had invented a few years ago called the _aspirin_. The pain dulled a few minutes later and she was allowed to stand, although she still favoured the leg. Baxter walked over and nuzzled Sabrina gently, he pressed his big muscular body against hers and led her to a leaf litter.

"Why is this place so..." Shiela dragged off at the last moment.  
"It use to be a beautiful paradise, until the dark lords arrived." Professor said.  
"How beautiful?" Shiela asked.  
"Crystal clear lakes, mountains, towering trees and food-a-plenty." Professor said.  
"Is there anyone else here besides you?" Shiela asked.  
"My friend Moneybags and I are the only ones that elected to stay behind." Professor said.  
"Where is Moneybags?" Shiela asked.  
"Last time I saw him he was in the forbiden caves." Professor said.  
"Forbiden caves?" Sparx said.  
"Yes, they use to house gems but now they only house bats." Professor said.  
"Bats!" Shiela exclaimed.  
"Big blood sucking bats." Professor giggled. Shiela shivered. "I'm kidding Shiela."  
"Oh...well good." Shiela said.

They spent the night sleeping huddled together, the Professor slept on Baxter's stomach, as Baxter had rolled over a few times. Spyro and Sparx slept nose to nose, Hunter's snores were loud and Shiela giggled in her sleep. Sabrina couldn't sleep, something told her that she needed to stay awake. Before she finally did let sleep fall, she saw a unicorn very much like herself only black with red eyes.


End file.
